What is religion? Why are people religious? What does religion do?
Why do religions differ? In this course we will address these
questions by analyzing how religion has been studied, and religious
traditions compared, by influential thinkers such as Max Weber, Mary
Douglas, Peter Berger, Mircea Eliade, Sigmund Freud, Clifford Geertz,
Victor Turner, and Jonathan Z. Smith. Requirements: a variety of in-
class assignments, midterm essay, and a final paper. This course
carries Critical Issues Credit.